Support local HIV research
Mmegi Editor | Tuesday September 27, 2016 16:57
Researchers at the University of Botswana, powered by a P250,000 grant, have been granted a permit and are now inviting HIV positive candidates to come forward for testing of Malebo’s creation.
As exciting as the latest developments are, they are also an uncomfortable reminder of the state of local research and development, particularly in the area of indigenous or traditional knowledge.
Known as Seromabadimo, Malebo’s herbal concoction was developed in 2003, but only gained the attention of the orthodox medical community in 2007/08 with claims that an HIV positive woman had tested negative at Palapye’s Extension 3 clinic.
The UB researchers only became involved in 2013, meaning a total of ten years have passed since Seromabadimo first hit the market.
We recognise that vaccines, cures and other treatments in mainstream medicine do take time to undergo scientific testing, identification of properties, measuring of strengths, side effects and others. However, in Malebo’s case, the time taken to reach the research grant level is symptomatic of the country’s lack of adequate research and development funding, particularly to indigenous knowledge practitioners.
We rolled out the red carpet to new medicines from the West and even merrily received the deluge of ‘homeopathic remedies’ from the East that have suddenly become commonplace in our pharmacies. However, traditional medicines and indigenous medical knowledge are treated with disdain and suspicion, an attitude evident in the lack of budgetary support in public service funding, as well as the exclusion of practitioners from the mainstream health sector.
What is important to note is that despite the attitudes at official level, many Batswana use traditional medicines and rely on indigenous medicinal knowledge, regardless of the lack of testing and other verification processes.
Malebo’s concoction has been and is being used by many already, even as testing on human subjects gets underway. In communities all over the country, Batswana still rely on traditional health practitioners, often not exclusively, but in addition to modern health care. China is a glowing example of the symbiosis between traditional and Western medicines and the benefits thereof. Many citizens of the Oriental giant depend exclusively on traditional remedies, which they vow can cure everything from cancer to blindness. Malebo’s achievements should be the torchbearer for further investigation and incorporation of traditional medicines and indigenous health knowledge in our health sectors.That can only begin with government,support infunding research in this area.
Today’s thought
“With colonialism and the advent of Western religion, traditional medicine is now regarded as barbarism and witchcraft.”
- Gladys Malebo